Includes bibliographical references (pages 447-469) and index.

A household icon of the environmental movement, Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) may be the most quoted conservationist in history. A Sand County Almanac has sold millions of copies and Leopoldʼs writings are venerated for their perceptions about land and how people might live in concert with the whole community of life. But who is the man behind the words? How did he arrive at his profound and poetic insights, inspiring generations of environmentalists? Building on past scholarship and a fresh study of Leopoldʼs unpublished archival materials, Julianne Lutz Newton retraces the intellectual journey generated by such passion and intelligence. Aldo Leopoldʼs Odyssey illuminates his lifelong quest for answers to a fundamental issue: how can people live prosperously on the land and keep it healthy, too? Leopoldʼs journey took him from Iowa to Yale to the Southwest to Wisconsin, with fascinating stops along the way to probe the causes of early land settlement failures, contribute to the emerging science of ecology, and craft a new vision for land use. More than a biography, this articulate volume is a guide to one manʼs intellectual growth, and an inspirational resource for anyone pondering the relationships between people and the land.

Includes information on agriculture, biotic community, biotic pyramid, community-based idea of good land use, biological cycle, deforestation, diversity of plant and animal species, Dust Bowl, ecology, Charles Elton, dynamic community organization and energy flows, erosion, evolution, forests, grazing, Great Depression, William T. Hornaday, hunting, land capacity for self-renewal, land ethic, land health, land pyramid, land use planning, New Deal, nutrient (energy) cycling, predators, private ownership issues, soil, water shortages, wildlife conservation, etc.

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